Negating Present Tense Verbs (نَفْيُ الفِعْلِ المُضَارِعِ)

Negation of the present tense verb occurs due to the following particles: لَـمْ لَـمَّا لَنْ لا ما

لَمْ

The particle لم is used with the present tense verb and:

1. Changes the meaning to the past tense
2. Puts the verb in the state of jazm (الجَزْم)

خَالِدٌ يَكْتُبُ لِي Khalid writes to me

لَمْ يَـكْتُــبْ لي خَالِدٌ Khalid did not write to me

لَمْ يَطْلُــبْ الطَّعَامَ مِنَ النَّدَلِ He did not ask the waiter for food

The state of jazm (الجزم) is the 'truncation' of a verb. It is used exclusively with verbs. In regular verbs, jazm is manifested as sukoon (a phonetic pause). How jazm affects other verbs will be discussed in future lessons.

لَـمَّا

Its translated as "not yet", it comes with the present tense verb and:

1. Negates an action up until the present moment.
2. Places the verb in the state of jazm (الجَزْم).

لَـمَّا يَـنْضُــجْ العِنبُ The grapes have not ripened yet

لَـنْ

The particle لن is used with the present tense verb and:

1. Negates the future
2. Puts the verb in the state of nasb (النَّصْب)

لَنْ أَكْذِبَ عَلَيْكَ بَعْدَ اليَوْمِ After today I will not deceive you

The state of nasb (النصب) is used with both verbs and nouns. In regular verbs, nasb is manifested as fatha, and how nasb affects other verbs will be discussed in future lessons.

لا

The particle لا is primarily used with present tense verbs, but it can also be used with past tense verbs

لا يَـنْجَحُ الكَسُولُ The lazy person will not succeed

سَوْفَ لا يَذْهَبُ إِلَـيْـهِ He will not go to him

لا يَـحْدُثُ هذا مَعَنَا This does not happen to us

ما

The particle ما is primarily used with past tense verbs, but it can also be used with present tense verbs.

مَا يَـنْفَعُكَ الكَذِبُ Lying does not benefit you

With present tense verbs, the particle ما negates the current moment.